Car accident attorney in Houston: what we do for you, step by step

Hiring a car accident attorney in Houston should mean you know what happens next. This page walks through the work our Houston office does on a claim, from the first phone call to the day a claim is resolved, and the Texas rules that shape each step.

This page is from LAWBOSS – Harris, Nelsen & Uvalle, PLLC, the firm behind Car Wreck Lawyers Houston. Our Houston office is at 5300 Memorial Dr, by Memorial Park west of downtown. The attorney responsible for this site is Jonathan Harris, Board Certified, Personal Injury Trial Law – Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

Why the attorney’s background matters

Five of the seven attorneys at our firm came from the insurance side. Jonathan Harris spent more than a decade as a senior trial attorney for a major automobile insurance company before he joined the firm in 2017. Ian Nelsen worked as an adjuster and an insurance defense attorney. Howard Hill spent over 20 years with two of the nation’s largest auto and commercial insurance carriers.

That matters because a car accident claim is, for most of its life, a conversation with an insurance company. Our attorneys have read claim files from the other side of the desk. They know which documents an adjuster looks for, why some questions are asked early, and how a file is valued before an offer is made.

Step one: the free consultation

You call or send the case review form. An attorney or a member of our Houston intake team asks what happened, where, who was involved and how you are feeling now. There is no charge for this conversation and no obligation to hire us. If we can help, we explain how we would handle the claim and what the written agreement says before you sign anything.

Our fee terms are simple: No Fees or Costs Unless We Win. The firm advances case costs, and you owe no attorney’s fee and no case costs unless money is recovered for you.

Step two: building the file

The early weeks decide how strong the claim will be. Evidence fades quickly in a city as busy as Houston: cars are repaired, video is recorded over and witnesses move on. In this stage we work on:

• The crash report. An officer who investigates a crash with injury, death or apparent property damage of $1,000 or more files a written report with TxDOT within 10 days (Transportation Code section 550.062). People involved in the crash and their representatives can buy a copy from TxDOT’s Crash Report Online Purchase System.
• Photographs and the scene. Your own photos of the cars, the road and your injuries, and any we can take or obtain of the intersection or stretch of freeway.
• Witnesses. Names and numbers of people who saw the crash, including those listed on the report.
• Video and vehicle data. Letters asking businesses, transit operators and the other side to keep video and data that may show what happened.
• Insurance. Every policy that may apply: the other driver’s liability coverage, your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage and your personal injury protection.

Step three: your treatment and your records

Your health comes first, and the claim follows your treatment. We ask you to keep your appointments and to tell your doctors about every symptom, because the medical records are how an insurer learns what the crash did to you. While you recover, we collect the records and bills from each provider, from the emergency room to physical therapy.

Serious injuries in the Houston area are often treated in the Texas Medical Center. Texas DSHS lists Harris Health Ben Taub Hospital and Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center as Level I trauma facilities. Wherever you are treated, we gather the records so that nothing is missing when the insurer reviews the claim.

Your own personal injury protection, if your policy has it, can help with medical bills and lost income while the claim goes on. PIP is paid without regard to who caused the crash, and the insurer must pay it within 30 days of satisfactory proof of the claim (Insurance Code sections 1952.155 and 1952.156).

Step four: fault and the 50 percent line

Texas uses proportionate responsibility. You can recover if your share of responsibility is 50 percent or less, and your recovery is reduced by your share (Civil Practice and Remedies Code sections 33.001 and 33.012). An insurer that can move your share from 20 percent to 40 percent changes the claim, and one that can push it past 50 percent ends it.

So we build the fault picture with evidence: where each car was, signals and speed, phone use, and the road itself. Texas makes it an offense to read, write or send a message on a portable device while the vehicle is moving (Transportation Code section 545.4251), and phone use can be part of the fault picture. A defendant can also ask to name a responsible third party, generally at least 60 days before trial (section 33.004), which is one more way blame gets spread around.

Step five: the demand

When your treatment is far enough along that its cost and its effects are understood, we send the insurer a demand. It sets out how the crash happened, why its driver is responsible, what your injuries are, what treatment cost and may cost, the work you missed and how the injuries affect your daily life. Everything in it is backed by the file.

The insurer answers with an offer, a request for more information or a denial. We tell you what we think of each answer and why. You decide whether to accept any offer; we give you our advice.

Step six: if a lawsuit is needed

Most claims are resolved without a trial, but some insurers will not deal fairly until a lawsuit is on file. In Texas a personal injury suit generally must be filed within two years of the crash (Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 16.003). Claims against a government unit, such as a crash with a city vehicle, need written notice within six months, or sooner if a city charter says so (section 101.101).

In Harris County, civil district court cases are filed at the Harris County Civil Courthouse at 201 Caroline, downtown. Jonathan Harris leads the firm’s litigation. If your claim goes to suit, the same team that built the file carries it forward.

What the insurance minimums mean for you

Texas drivers must carry at least $30,000 of liability coverage for injury to one person, $60,000 for injuries to two or more people and $25,000 for property damage (Transportation Code section 601.072). These are legal minimums, not a measure of what any claim is worth. When an injury goes past the other driver’s limits, your own underinsured motorist coverage may be part of the answer: it comes with every Texas auto policy unless a named insured rejected it in writing (Insurance Code section 1952.101).

Damages: what a claim can include

A car accident claim asks the at-fault driver, through their insurer, to pay for the losses the crash caused. Depending on the facts, that can include medical bills already paid and treatment still needed, wages lost while you recovered and earning capacity you may have lost for good, the cost of repairing or replacing your car, and the physical pain, impairment and disruption of daily life an injury brings.

We do not put a number on any claim before we have the facts, and we never promise a result. Every case depends on its own evidence, the injuries, the coverage available and the law that applies. What we can promise is that the file we build will show the insurer the full picture of what happened to you.

Keep a simple notebook or phone note while you recover: appointments, pain, things you could not do, days off work and every expense. Small details are easy to forget months later, and they belong in the demand.

What you can do today

1. Get medical care and follow your doctors’ advice.
2. Write down what you remember about the crash while it is fresh.
3. Keep photos, the other driver’s information, the report number and every bill.
4. Do not give the other driver’s insurer a recorded statement before you talk to us.
5. Call us, or send the case review form, for a free consultation.

To meet the attorneys and see how the office runs a claim, read about our car accident law firm in Houston. If the other driver left the scene, start with our page for a hit and run lawyer in Houston.